It may actually be a matter of application. I think nonfiction (even possibly factual data, though moreso when it's arranged in a cohesive fashion) can definitely have meaning. The difference might be that some people, when looking at data, don't look at implications, only facts. The implications start to create something that is more--bigger--than just the bare statistics laid out. And I think poetry and fiction have that element, too. They have to be more than just the words, or they're not actually worth very much. What takes them from just being arranged words and turns them into a story is imagination.

I'm really loving mulling this around--thanks for asking questions that make me expand my ideas!